TWIN FALLS — State funding for a $26.3 million canal-lining project will help Twin Falls Canal Co. reduce the amount of a precious resource — water — that is lost through seepage.
The basic concept is not new, canal company General Manager Jay Barlogi said.
After digging canals through southern Idaho over 100 years ago, canal company officials realized that a portion of their water was being absorbed by the ground, and in some canal sections at a significant rate. Often, the water making its way out of the canal made parts of fields in adjacent farmland too moist to grow crops.
From the early 1900s, various materials were used to control it, including clay, impervious materials, and concrete. Barlogi pointed to a section of canal that was lined with concrete in 1920.
Now, the new project, announced this fall and funded through the Idaho Water Resource Board, uses high-density polyethylene in an effort that aims to, within five to eight years, line 9.25 miles of canal that is especially prone to seepage within the next five to eight years.
The project began this year and will continue this winter, weather permitting. The liner can save between an estimated five and 10 cfs per mile, depending on various factors, said Jason Brown, engineer/field supervisor. “I think it’s a really good project for the farmers in this area and also across the state as we work to secure our water right and our water delivery to our patrons,” Brown said. Many eastern Idaho groundwater users are in favor of the project. “That’s something to be applauded,” Alan Jackson of the Bingham Groundwater District said at a IWRB meeting in July. “We support it.”
Bargoli said the project is about getting water into the fields, “where it is intended to go.” “All of this land out here, without water, has no value,” he said. “So the value of water is certainly huge.” Before the grant came into play, the TFCC planned to fund the project by itself, little by little, but now it can be done a lot quicker. “We intended to do all of this,” Barlogi said, “but it was going to take us 20 to 25 years at a huge expense to our shareholders to accomplish it.”
The canal company installed a first mile of HDPE liner in the High Line Canal in 2019, and two years later, installed a liner on the Low Line Canal. In 2023, it installed another mile on the High Line Canal. Installation is accomplished by unrolling large sheets across the canal and using a heat welder to connect the liner sheets. The liner is anchored by direct and rock backfill trenches on the canal rim. The liner is then covered with small rocks and gravel. The project also involves developing an aquifer-recharge basin, installing 28 automated water-measurement stations, and installing another liner on the Lateral 1 Canal.
“The additional water measurement stations will give us a much better idea of how much water is coming back into the Snake River,” Barlogi said. The Twin Falls Canal Co. provides water to almost 300,000 acres of farmland in Twin Falls County, with more than 100 miles of major canals and about 1,000 miles of smaller laterals.
